Thermostatically controlled engine cooling system



June 10, 1941. O ANDERSON 2,244,932

THERMOSTATICALLX CONTROLLED ENGINE COOLING SYSTEM Filed May 4, 1938 (92%AT lzzaefsoiz Patented June 10, 1941 PATENT OFFICE THERMOSTATICALLYCONTROLLED ENGINE COOLING SYSTEM Orlin L. Anderson, Lansing, Mich.,assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Application May 4, 1938, Serial No. 205,971

5 Claims.

This invention has to do with internal combustion engine cooling systemswhich include, in addition to the engine water jacket and the watercooling radiator, a by-pass through which engine cooling water may beconducted from.-- 5 the outlet to the inlet of the engine water jacketwithout passing through the radiator to expedite warming up the engine.

The invention resides in an arrangement of main and by-pass engine waterjacket outlet lo ports and a thermostat which includes valves whichregulate the passage of engine cooling water through the ports and maybe installed in or removed from the engine cooling system as a unit. ;l5

For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference is made to th following specification wherein there isdescribed the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation, with parts in section, of aninternal combustion engine equipped with a cooling system in accordancewith my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view, mainly in section, of the upper part ofthe front end of the engine shown in Figure 1.

In the drawing, the reference character l indicates an internalcombustion engine with 30 cooling waterpassages II and [2 in itscylinder block and cylinder head and the reference character 13 a watercooling radiator with water inlet and outlet fittings l4 and I5. In theupper wall of the cylinder head, there is a water outlet. 35 port l6which connects the cooling water passage i2 in the cylinder head with awater outlet fitting I? which is secured by screws 18 to the upper Wallof the cylinder head. The outlet fitting I1 is connected to the radiatorinlet fitting 40 M by a' length of hose I9. The radiator outlet fittingI is connected by another length of hose 26 to the main inlet 2| of anengine driven water pump 22 which is mounted on the front of thecylinder block with its outlet communicating 45 with the cooling waterpassage H in the cylinder block.

From a point beneath the water outlet port I6 in the upper wall of thecylinder head to an auxiliary water inlet 23 in the pump 22, there 50extends a passage 24 which is separated from the cooling water passageI2 in the cylinder head by a horizontal web 25 through which extends aport 26 which is coaxial with the port IS.

The reference character 21 indicates a ther- 55 mostat with a body 28which is shaped generally lik an inverted cup with an external annularflange 29 on its lower end and an orifice 30 in its upper. end. Withinthe body 28, there is disposed an extensible and contractible metalbellows 3| with its lower head seated on and secured to a spider-likemember 32 whose legs 33 are connected at their outer ends to the body 28near its lower end. The bellows contains a volatile liquid and,consequently, tends to extend and contract when its. temperature risesand falls. To the upper head of the bellows, there is secured throughthe intermediary of a stem 34 a poppet valve 35 which is moved away fromand. to a position in which it is seated on the upper end of the body 28around and closes the orifice 30 when the bellows extends and contracts.To limit extension of th bellows 3| and to constrain it to move in astraight line path there is secured in the body 28 above the bellows amember 36 with an orifice 3'! in it through which the valve stem 34extends. Below the spiderlike member 32, there is a disk-like valve 39with legs which extend upwardly and then outwardly below the spider-likemember and then upwardly between the legs of the spider-like member intothe body 28 between it and the bellows 3i and are connected at theirupper ends to the upper head of the bellows. The valve 39 is, of course,moved toward and away from the body 28 when the bellows extends andcontracts.

As the drawing shows, the thermostat 21 is installed in the ngine shownin the drawing with the flange 29 on the lower end of the body of thethermostat clamped between the outlet fitting l1 and the upper wall ofthe cylinder head around the port l6 and the disk-like valve 39 withinthe port 26 in the web 25. It is, of course, apparent that thethermostat may be installed or removed from th engine as a unit bysimply removing the outlet fitting ll. v

When the engine is cold, the bellows will, of course, be contracted, thevalve 35 seated on the upper end of the body 28 of the thermostat aroundthe orifice 38 and the valve 39 in the passage 24 below the lower wallof the web 25. Under this condition, the water forced by the pump 22into the cooling water passages II in the cylinder block and, thence,into the cooling water passage I2 in the cylinder head will leave thelatter through the port 26 in the web 25 and return to the pump throughits auxiliary inlet 23 without passing through the radiator l3. Thewater will, consequently, be heated and the temperature of the engineraised rapidly.

thence, into the cooling water passage l2 in the cylinder head willleave the latter through the port [6 in the upper wall of the cylinderhead and return to the pump through its maininlet 2! by way of theradiator I3 which will reduce its temperature and thus tend to preventfurther rise in the temperature of the engine.

Iclaim: r

1. In a thermostat, a generally cup'shaped body with an external annularsupporting flange "on its open end and an orifice in its closed end, aspider-like member near the open end of the body with the outer ends ofits legs connected thereto, an extensible and contractible metal bellowswhich contains 'a fluid which expands and contracts when its temperaturerises and falls 'mounted within the body with one of its heads seated onand secured to the spider-like member, a valve on the same side of thespider-like member as the bellows connected to the other head of thebellows so that it moves away from and toward a position in which it isseated on the closed end of the body around the orifice in it when thebellows extends and contracts and cooperates with the body to regulatethe passage" of fluid through the latter, and a disk-like valve on theside of the spider-like member opposite the bellows with legs whichextend toward the spider-like member, then outwardly and then bebodybetween the body and the bellows and-are connected at their ends distantfrom the disklike valve to the second mentioned head of the tween thelegs of the spider-like member into the 10 bellows so that the disk-likevalve moves toward n and away from the body as the bellows extends" andcontracts, the disk-like valve being free to cooperate with a memberfrom which the thermostat is separable to regulate the passage of 'fiuidthrough a port in the latter.

'2. In a thermostat, a member which includes a generally cylindricalelement and a supporting element joined one to the other, an extensibleand contractible metal bellows which contains a fluid which expands andcontracts when its temv perature rises and falls mounted within thegenerally cylindrical element with one of its heads seated on andsecured to the supporting element, a valve on the same side of thesupporting elemerit as the bellows connected to the other head of, thebellows so that it moves away from and toward the supporting member whenthe bellows extends'and contracts'and cooperates with the generallycylindrical element to regulate the passage of fluid through the latter,and'a valve on the side of the supporting member opposite the bellowsconnected to the second mentioned head of the bellows so that it movestoward and away from the supporting member when the bellows extends andcontracts and free to cooperate with a member from which the thermostatis separable to regulate the passage of fluid through a port in thelatter.

3. In a thermostat, a supporting member, a member which extends andcontracts when its temperature rises and falls mounted on the supportingmember, a valve on one side of the supporting member connected to thesecond specified member on the mentioned side of the supporting memberso that it moves away from and toward the supporting member when thesecond specified member extends and contracts, and a valve on the sideof the supporting member opposite the first specified valve connected tothe second specified member on the same side of the supporting member asthe first specified valve so that it moves toward and away from thesupporting member when the second specified member extends andcontracts, one of the valves being free to cooperate with a member fromwhich the thermostat is separable to regulate the passage of fluidthrough a port in the latter.

'4. The combination, with a member which has in it a plurality of portsthrough which fluid may pass, of a thermostat which is separable as aunit from the member, the thermostat including a member which includes agenerally cylindrical element and a supporting element joined one to theother and mounted on the first specified member with the generallycylindrical element around one of the ports in it, an extensible andcontractible metal bellows which contains a fluid which expands andcontracts when its temperature rises and falls disposed within thegenerally cylindrical element and mounted on the supporting element withone of its heads secured to the latter, a valve on the same side of thesupporting element as the bellows connected to the other head of thebellows so that it moves away from and toward a position in which it inconjunction with the generally cylindrical element obstructs passage offluid through the last mentioned port when the bellows extends andcontracts, and a valve on the side of the supporting element oppositethe bellows connected to the second mentioned head of the bellows sothat it moves toward and away from a position in which it in conjunctionwith the first specified member obstructs passage of fluid through theother of the ports when the bellows extends and contracts.

5. The combination, with a member which has in it a plurality of portsthrough which fluid may pass, of a thermostat which is separable as aunit from the member, the thermostat including a supporting memberseated on the first specified member, a member which extends andcontracts when its temperature rises and falls mounted on the supportingmember, and valves of which one is on one side and the other on theother side of the supporting member connected to the third specifiedmember on the same side of the supporting member so that one moves awayfrom and toward a position in which it obstructs passage of fluidthrough one of the ports and the other moves toward and away from aposition'in which it obstructs passage of fluid through the other of theports when the third specified member extends and contracts.

ORLIN L. ANDERSON.

